


Rockabye

by Incoherentbabblings



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, No Plot/Plotless, One Shot, Pregnancy, behold! the birth of the baby duck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21833686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incoherentbabblings/pseuds/Incoherentbabblings
Summary: Stephanie gives birth.  Again. This time it's planned, with someone who wants her and the child, and there's a veritable superhero army waiting outside to hold the kid. This baby is as wanted as can be and yet, still, a worry remains.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake
Comments: 18
Kudos: 110





	Rockabye

**Author's Note:**

> *Listens to Rockabye by Clean Bandit 20 hundred thousand times* Hmm... A batfam song if ever there was one. I just wanted to write Stephanie and Tim having their first kid surrounded by all the people who loved them. Hope you enjoy!
> 
>  **Edit:** Updated grammar the 21st of November 2020.

Stephanie wasn’t strong enough to hold her baby yet. It had been nearly a day since her contractions had first become so often and long to be ignored. It wasn’t too unusual, her mother had told her, that the first stages of labor could last twelve hours. However, this wasn’t Steph’s first baby. It also was her first child that she was determined to give birth to without a c-section. And her determination saw her through. Sixteen hours later, her and Tim’s little boy was born.

Tim had driven her to the hospital, Stephanie on the phone to her mother the entire time. Crystal must have pulled in a favour with her own hospital staff because she was waiting outside for the pair. Pulling what little clout she had as a nurse at West Mercy hospital, she got them seen to straight away. Tim had called Bruce once they arrived, to which he would no doubt have informed the rest of the family. He texted Conner, Cassie and Bart on the group chat, then Kara individually, knowing they would tell practically every one of their friends that a baby Drake was on its way out. Cassie and Kara had each messaged a long, sweet message wishing them luck, Conner a brightly toned equivalent of a thumbs up.

Bart had simply sent a **（・ｗ・）** which Tim tried not to take threateningly.

Stephanie had vomited, during the transition stage, as the pain was so bad. She had been insisting on walking around her little room in the hospital, hands on her back, gasping but not making much more noise when one throb had hit her so bad it triggered her gag reflex. Crystal had jumped back to give her daughter space, but Tim had instinctively leapt forward, open bag in hand. Tim had been very good about it, managing to catch it in one of the plastic bags he had brought supplies in, although he hadn’t made it as clean as he would have liked, and indeed some had managed to drip onto his hands. Shivering and trying to not to breathe through his nose, he quickly disposed of the bag and rushed to the sink, yelling _it’s fine honey it’s fine don’t worry it’s fine_ to Stephanie’s mortification. They’d managed to waste a couple of energy drinks from the corner shop in that bag that he dared not wash clean at the sink, but it was better than the mess that would have happened all over the floor.

Stephanie had wanted to cause as little fuss as possible during this time for the staff, knowing how overworked they were, but this had caused her to miss the window to get an epidural. She ended up giving birth – in Tim’s words – biblical style.

Well, as biblical as one could be in a modern hospital with an army of doctors and nurses, plus her mother the ER nurse, plus the richest man in Gotham sat outside the room with a hefty donation just waiting to be awarded in a day’s time as incentive to do a good job…

Still, it hurt, a lot, and despite being told that not being on numbing painkillers would make the entire process quicker, she still had been in the second stage of labor for three hours. Something about being pregnant at fifteen and giving birth by c-section meant her hips had formed funny, baby number two was in an awkward position blah blah _blah_ …

To be honest, Stephanie hadn’t really been listening. She had graduated from harsh breaths to full on wailing two hours in. When she saw the doctor’s muttering to themselves about her progress, she knew the dreaded sentence was coming. No luck, we’re going to have to perform another c-section.

There was an internal _nope_ that Stephanie felt at the unspoken threat of missing her baby being born, the one she had planned for, the one who would have a father and grandmother and grandfather (and a great grandfather?) and aunts and uncles and maybe one day cousins and…

She screeched, one final round of contractions making her face turn purple, and there was a flutter of excitement amongst the staff. She took a breath, then pushed again, and then the wailing of a new-born reached her ears.

The baby looked awfully purple to her, but she wasn’t exactly seeing straight. The fluorescent lights were hurting her eyes a little, and she was probably blinded by tears. When she looked up at Tim, she could barely make out his face.

She could tell the mood of the room though, which was happy and light, though still professional. All was well.

She collapsed back into the bed, content to wait until she was passed her baby. They probably wanted to clip the cord and give them a bath first. She had been present at enough births whilst on her medical training to know that babies were pretty yucky when they first came out.

She also needed to get the placenta out. That could wait a little though, at least until she caught her breath.

She blinked a few times, then refocused on Tim. His hand was still in hers, fingers turning a little bit puce from her grip, though if she was actually hurting him, he didn’t seem to be giving much away. He returned the squeeze to her hand, and craned his neck, watching the doctor’s weigh the baby.

Seven pounds exactly.

When the doctor went to hand over the little boy, Stephanie couldn’t raise her arms without them shaking, exhausted as she was, so instead they laid her back and tucked the baby under her smock, ensuring that it was resting against her breast and heartbeat.

The humdrum of the doctor and nurses faded away, her mother stroked her hair and Tim squeezed her hand repeatedly. The baby continued to wail, deeply upset at the trauma of being born, but when Stephanie managed to raise her fingers to stroke his back, the baby began to still, breathing normalising.

Her little baby boy. Her and Tim’s. For real this time. For her to keep, and love, and cherish.

With the end of the baby’s tears came Tim’s, whose snuffling made Crystal laugh and pat his cheek.

“Easy… it can be a lot for new dad’s huh?”

Tim nodded ruefully, sniffing hard and aggressively rubbing at his eyes.

“Wanna hold him?” Stephanie asked, keeping her eyes on the baby.

Tim nodded, lips turned down and blue eyes blood shot from stress and tears. It was the first time Stephanie had noted his mood since the contractions had really started, and she felt guilty for not noticing. Though she supposed she had a valid excuse. Crystal went to grab the baby, lifting him off her daughter. She shuffled him in her arms, then walked around the bed. Stephanie watched, smiling blissfully at the sight of her mother cradling her child. Crystal cooed at the boy before handing over the baby to Tim.

He sat down in the chair beside the bed, looking completely out of sorts.

“You held mine… before,” Stephanie murmured.

“I’ve held lots of babies,” he joked, voice warbled and distant and unable to lift his eyes. “Different this time though.”

“Mm.”

Stephanie’s mother leaned over and kissed her forehead once more.

“You did good Stephie.”

“Thanks…”

The afterbirth was blissfully easy in comparison, and she tried not to laugh at Tim’s face as the placenta was placed on the tray. His horror seemed to only grow when the doctor asked if they wanted to take it home.

“No, thank you,” he whispered, half expecting it to sprout little legs and scuttle off like a creature from Alien.

Stephanie agreed, not really understanding why people wanted to take it away with them. What on earth would they do with it?

“Some people eat it,” one nurse quipped.

Crystal laughed at the growing sick expression on Tim’s face. Poor boy.

“Just gonna check for tearing and stitch it up, clean you up then move you to your resting room okay?” asked the doctor. “The rest of the family can visit then.”

Stephanie gave a thumbs up, still a little out of sorts. Tim got to his feet and asked Crystal to help pass over the baby to Stephanie.

“Gonna go speak to the family,” he whispered. He kissed Stephanie’s head, then the baby’s, and then walked outside, still looking a little pale and traumatised.

He entered the waiting room to find the crows of people sat waiting. Titans in one corner, Batfamily in the other. Bart reached Tim first, because of course he did, but before he could say anything Bruce had yoinked him back out of the way.

“We heard her crying from down here. Didn’t she get an epidural? She was in labor too long.” Leave it to Bruce to panic. He took a breath and took a good look at Tim. He frowned a little disapprovingly. “You’re green,” he claimed.

“Yeah. Probably.”

Everyone had crowded round now. Babs’ wheels were pressing insistently on his shins, Duke had moved to stand behind Tim, watching the pressing group move forward by inches as seconds passed. Dick was resting his head on Bruce’s shoulder, Damian and Cass peering round either side of their father’s arms, curious. Conner, Kara, Cassie and Bart stood either side of them, creating an overly concerned and curious semi-circle of loved ones. Alfred stood back a little, maintaining his distance.

“All good!” Tim managed to spit out. “Baby boy, seven pounds. Steph’s just getting checked and cleaned up then they’ll move her and the baby to the recovery room… It was all good.”

“Just a lot to take in huh?” Babs asked, holding Tim’s hand.

“The afterbirth was a bit…” His eyes grew distant, but then he shook himself. He felt Duke shake with silent laughter.

Alfred smiled indulgently, “We are happy to wait a bit longer, we are all quite excited to see the baby.”

“And Stephanie!” tooted both Cassandras. They stopped, stared at each other, then slowly returned their gaze to Tim. He tried to not find it unnerving.

Kara nodded, ignoring the Cassandra synchronicity. “We’re okay to wait too, right?”

Conner and Cassie nodded as a pair. Bart smiled mischievously.

“Baby Drake… Baby duck. Duckling.”

“Don’t you dare,” Tim felt himself glaring at Bart. He looked back at Bruce (and Dick’s head on Bruce’s shoulders). “No name…not yet.”

“But not Duckling?” Cass asked. Her black eyes twinkled.

“Please don’t call my son after puns on my surname.”

The look on Bart and Conner’s faces indicated they were going to ignore Tim’s plea.

Later in the evening they were allowed through in small groups. Crystal, having spent most of the labour and the initial resting period with her daughter, had gone back to work (or rest, whichever she needed to do more), so first through the door were Bruce and Alfred.

Bruce had paused awkwardly in the centre of the room, unsure where to place himself. Tim had perched on the bed, next to Stephanie’s knees, whilst Alfred moved to sit in the comfortable chair that rested beside the couple.

“He is feeding alright?” Alfred asked, expertly taking the baby from Stephanie. She looked shattered to Bruce, like she would sleep for the next twelve hours and still need more when she woke, but she also seemed more content than he had ever seen her.

“Yeah, a little tricky at first but…”

“Yes, it can be,” and then Alfred was holding their baby. His stoic British exterior cracked and he, for a lack of a better term, grinned. “Very well done, the both of you.”

“…Mostly Steph,” Tim defended.

“Sshh. Take the compliment,” she said, smiling indulgently. Her head lolled on her shoulders, and she looked at Bruce. “Okay?”

Bruce looked either like he was two steps away from crying or like he had just stepped in dog shit. She didn’t really know what to make of that face.

“The doctors were good?” he asked.

She huffed, knowing what he was referring to. “Yes. Promise. My fault for not speaking up about the pain. But I’m here, and so is the baby. Successful childbirth in my eyes. Not going to do it again probably but…” she giggled, and Tim smiled. Her voice was shredded from the screaming she had done, it would be fine the day after tomorrow, but for the moment all it served to do was make her sound fragile.

“No more kids?” Tim asked, half-jokingly.

“Ask me when I don’t have to wear a diaper for the bleeding anymore.”

 _That_ made Bruce look like he had stepped in dog shit. He coughed, then finally walked over to Alfred and the baby. The pair were staring at each other, the baby expressionless, probably a bit overwhelmed by the day’s events. Alfred looked completely in love.

“I can see he has his mother’s nose.”

“Oh? Cute as button?”

Alfred smiled indulgently. “Indeed.”

He stood up to pass the baby to Bruce. Bruce, who had countless times held infants, both as Batman and Bruce Wayne, looked so out of his depth that Stephanie actually felt sorry for him.

Tim looked on sympathetically, then smiled tightly, teeth bared in a sort of grimace.

“So… first grandkid huh?”

Any colour that remained in Bruce’s pallor instantly vanished. He looked up at Tim and Stephanie, but he seemed to be looking right through them. A thousand-yard stare.

Tim internally swore at himself.

“I mean… legally. I mean… I’m sure the others will… mixed families… weird age gaps between cousins and uncles and aunts… I mean, when you and Selina – oof!”

Stephanie nudged Tim with her knee and took control of the conversation. “So? You gonna tell me how cute he is? Most new-borns look like a potato. Not him. He’s not even purple anymore.”

“He is very cute Stephanie.”

“Darn right.”

Bruce harrumphed, and began to rock the baby extremely carefully. A long moment passed where Bruce watched the baby, and Alfred, Tim and Stephanie watched Bruce and his softening expression. Stephanie knew just from watching that her boy was going to be as fiercely protected and loved throughout his childhood as much as she and Tim were not. It was a promise she had made to her belly when the baby would kick in strange places and wake her up in the middle of the night.

Bruce paced from each wall of the room, looking happier by the moment. Tim sighed, relieved that the paranoid part of him that was afraid of Bruce’s reaction had been put to rest. His tenseness returned, however, twice as stiff, when Bruce stopped moving.

“I’m going to make things difficult for a moment,” Bruce finally said, eyes returning to Tim and Stephanie. Alfred tutted and got up from the chair, practically stealing away the baby for himself.

Tim’s brows furrowed. “How? Do you want us to move into the manor? Because we can do it in our own home. Like, you have a key, if you want to be around to help –”

“There will be people,” Bruce interrupted, “who will be very interested to hear that Stephanie and Tim Drake have had a baby boy together.”

Tim looked away at the baby gurgling in Alfred’s arms and said nothing. Stephanie glanced back and forth between the two men, confused by their silence.

“And?” she demanded. “What kind of people? Vicki Vale or—”

“You know who I mean Stephanie.”

Tim’s throat grew dry, as what he had suspected throughout her pregnancy being confirmed by another equally paranoid member of his family. Stephanie blinked, then grew indignant.

“I’m not running around hiding a baby on the off chance that someone like Ra’s Al Ghul wants a bite out of him. I’m not living in fear of a _what if_.”

Tim reached for her hand. “Steph we can at least –”

“No.” Voice firm, tone final. No argument was to be had. “If you want to spend your days watching the house CCTV on the off chance a ninja is looking through the window, be my guest. I’m going to take him to pre-school and the park and swimming lessons and overly loud cafes and…” her tone wobbled and she stopped. Alfred smartly returned the baby to her, and Tim rested a hand on her leg. “Sorry. Overly emotional new mother and all that.”

Her rant was half directed at Bruce and half at herself. She wasn’t going to miss being a mother this time round. Not when she had spent so long preparing for a second, a proper, a prepared, go at it.

“Me and Tim… we’re not special. Not like that. I don’t want special treatment. We’re a normal family. That’s what I want.”

Tim’s nostrils flared, and he knew this was going to cause difficulty further down the line. For now, she had said her piece. Bruce would have to respect it, and Tim would brood over it.

Bruce nodded then approached the pair. He gripped Tim’s shoulder and shook it tight. A step down from a hug (or God forbid a kiss), but it was something. Stephanie received a cupped cheek, one she caught between her collar and face to keep the physical affection pinned a moment longer, but Bruce slid his hand out regardless.

“I’ll send the rest of the family in.”

When he left, Tim turned to Alfred. “No Jason?”

Alfred heaved a sigh, his shoulders rising and falling dramatically.

“No. Nothing has been heard.”

He gave another bought of congratulations, and this time both the parents received a hug from the butler.

An awkward silence ensued after Alfred left, but it was soon broken by the bickering duo of Cass and Dick, ‘debating’ on who got to hold the child first. Dick managed to shove his way to the front only for Cass to duck past him. Dick went to grab her arm, but Cass elbowed Dick in the gut and made her way straight to Stephanie. Her grin was brighter than a lightbulb.

“My turn. I want to hold the baby duck.”

The ensuing squawk that escaped Tim only made the teasing louder and more pointed.

Stephanie kept largely silent throughout the ensuing visits, watching from her spot on the bed, as one by one each member got a few minutes to hold her child. She honestly exhausted, and she was sure Tim was too, though he would never admit it.

Damian had turned as red as the baby, partly disgusted by what the baby’s existence inferred about Tim and Stephanie's relationship and partly intrigued by the little poop machine (as dubbed thus by Duke).

Seeing so many people here to see the baby, to congratulate her and Tim, would have made her joyous under any other circumstances, but Bruce’s warning hung at the back of her mind like a weighted blanket. Ever present and almost... _eating_ away at her.

Stephanie knew having a child would be complicated. She wasn’t that naïve. She knew they would maybe be a target. She just couldn’t let it affect the way they lived.

And yet here she was, surrounded by as much warmth and love then she had ever had before, as much as her wedding day, as much as her graduation ceremony, and the pit of isolation, of running thoughts and anxiety, began to swallow her up.

What if she couldn’t protect her child? What if she couldn’t be a good mother?

Stephanie only came to when Conner and Cassie held the baby, Conner getting it into his head that as a baby bat, the child would love to be hung upside down, and Cassie’s floating up to the ceiling in an absolutely panic, trying to stop Conner from potentially dropping the baby on the ground. Bart was planted solidly on the floor, knees apart and squatting, hands raised skywards, one hundred percent committed to catching the floppy new-born if he did slip. Kara was tugging on Conner’s foot, yelling so loud that Stephanie was surprised a member of staff hadn’t burst in. Tim was about to jump on the bed when Conner corrected himself with a blasé dismissal and landed beside Stephanie. He passed the baby back to her, telling everyone to calm down. Cassie smacked him upside the head.

Stephanie couldn’t help it, she laughed.

“That’s not funny Steph!” Tim huffed, shoving at Conner uselessly. “God if you’re dropped him…”

“I would have caught him! Or Bart or Cassie or Kara! Super reflexes and all that.”

He made Stephanie laugh again. “How lucky are you huh?” she whispered to her baby. “You’ve got a so many superheroes looking out for you, a dozen aunts and uncles. Not many babies can say that huh?”

“Most babies can’t say much,” Bart interjected. Tim had seemingly reached his melting point with his closest and dearest friends and began to kick Bart incessantly on the butt. Bart howled, Cassie laughed, and Conner and Kara looked pensive.

Conner asked, “You mean it? Can I be a godparent?”

Kara looked thrilled at the prospect, “Yes! Super godparents!”

The pair high fived each other like they were pre-teens.

“We’re not baptising him, Conner,” snarked Tim. He moved to sit beside Stephanie once more. Stephanie blinked sleepily. She wanted to rest now, but she didn’t want to usher their friends out of the room. Their presence was comforting, despite the utter chaos that accompanied a Flash, Supers and Wonder Girls wherever they went.

“Honorary godparent? Uncle Conner?” Conner offered.

Tim and Stephanie looked at each other, pretending to mull it over. Tim saw Stephanie’s eyes fluttering, fighting to stay awake. Bart grew impatient and changed the subject.

“Can I suggest a name?”

“Alexander,” Conner spoke, blowing cool air onto the baby’s face who had been remarkably patient about the amount of people he’d been passed to.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Ha.” Bart jumped up and down, his hair bouncing like a cartoon character. “You gonna name him Jack? Or no?”

Tim didn’t answer, instead he put on his coat and bag, before taking the baby from Stephanie. He spoke to her and her alone, the other four in the room irrelevant for the moment.

“I’ll get him down to the unit. You okay to sleep for a bit?”

“When can I go home?”

“Tomorrow. Think they wanna be sure there’s no complications from the stitches or on your scar. I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Solid,” she murmured. “Night babies,” she giggled, kissing both her boys, and settled back to catch up a day and a half of lost sleep.

“Night Steph!” Kara hugged her friend tight. The other three waved and said their goodbyes. Tim turned off the lights and got Cassie to shut the door for him. Arms shaking a little, he moved in the opposite direction from his friends, yelling a genuine thank you for them coming to see him and Steph. Cassie had flown over and hugged him tightly one last time, stroking the baby’s head.

“Wouldn't have missed it.”

Down at the maternal unit, Tim passed the baby off to one of the nurses, promising to see him tomorrow to take home. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves and remind himself that the baby was probably in the best place in case an emergency cropped up, he left his son to rest. He headed back to Stephanie’s room, hoping to find her fast asleep. Instead, he was greeted by her crying.

“Hey, hey, hey no,” he rushed over and pulled her into a tight hug. “No. Steph it’s okay. You did good today. More than good. It’s okay.”

She shook her head, limp in his arms. “I can’t get what Bruce said out of my head.”

Tim nodded, understanding where her stress was coming from. “It… It’ll be okay.”

“God, I know I’m over emotional right now but I’m so scared. What if...” She broke into louder sobbing then, so Tim began to rock her and pressed his face to her golden hair.

“What if _what if_... Not like you to worry about the what ifs. That’s my job.”

Emotional as she was, she couldn’t stop the gurgle of laughter escape her. Her smile quickly faded, and she looked deeply sad again.

“He’s our baby.”

“I know.”

“People might want to hurt him _because_ he’s our baby.”

Tim looked back at the door, ever so slightly ajar. He got up and shut it, then removed his outer clothing. Shuffling off his shoes, he settled on top of the bed, spooning Stephanie above the sheets. Stephanie continued her quiet sobs, face pressed into the pillow. Tim squeezed her tight.

“I don’t know what I can say.”

She tugged at his arms. “Can you stay tonight? At least until I’m asleep. That’s enough.”

Tim nodded and pressed closer. The room was mostly silent, aside from the noise of the air conditioning unit whirring away. Every now and then Stephanie would sniff or gasp a little, but eventually her breathing settled out. She still wasn’t asleep, however.

“Stephie?”

“Yeah?” her voice was small and tired. She was so tired.

“I think… we have to trust that our family and friends will help. Two supers, a flash, a wonder girl…”

“Batman?”

“Him too. You’re right to not want to worry about something we don’t even know for certain. But…”

“The fear won’t go.”

Tim pressed kisses to the shell of Stephanie’s ear. She turned around, ensuring her nose met tip to tip with his.

“I made a promise to him Tim. That his childhood would be nothing like ours. That he would grow up and have a good life.”

“He will. I promise as much as you do.”

Stephanie’s fingertips moved through Tim’s hair, stroking down his cheek and resting on his lips. He kissed the pads of her fingers gently.

“Our baby,” she murmured. She smiled absentmindedly, remembering the feel of him on her chest, in her arms. His dark tuft of hair, oversized curious blue eyes, and little piggy nose. He had arrived a little early, impatient as his mother, but already seemed quite settled in his new environment. A quick adapter. Their little fighter.

“You stuck to a name yet?” Tim asked, hoping to distract her.

She shook her head. “No. You?”

Biting his lip, Tim shifted, moving to get under the covers with her. “A few. Rank them?”

Breathing easily once more, she nodded, and pulled Tim close.

“Sure. Shoot.”

**Author's Note:**

> "Hey Abbie how come you don't ever write Jason in your stories?". Huh, friend, good question. What a question... Mm there's a question huh? 
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked the fluff. I answered a question on tumblr the other day and TimSteph babies came up. I really don't know for names. We know in assorted Elsewords/nightmares that two of Tim's kids are called Matt or Janet but... I don't know man. What do you guys think?


End file.
